CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad Planning Commission approved a 12-unit infill housing project on Jefferson Street despite plans to connect the new development to existing asbestos pipes in the city’s water system.
Dave Padilla, Carlsbad’s assistant utilities director, said the Jefferson Street system is among the oldest in the city and was likely built in the 1960s when asbestos piping was standard.
“We have quite a bit of asbestos in the pipe in the system,” Padilla said. “We will develop a program to phase it out from our system, but it’s going to take time.”
The inhalation of asbestos fibers has been linked to mesothelioma and lung cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, asbestos pipes are not considered hazardous unless the material is released when a pipe is broken or crushed, according to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Padilla said a water master plan update, expected in four to five months, will identify remaining asbestos pipes and projects to replace them. To avoid releasing fibers, old pipes would be uncoupled at connection points rather than cut.
The replacement sections would use polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, piping. Workers must wear protective clothing and masks and follow strict procedures to prevent exposure.
The Jefferson Street project will redevelop a 0.34-acre site that currently contains a single-family home slated for demolition into four three-story residential condominium buildings, according to city documents. The 12 units are the maximum allowed under the state density bonus law, which the developer met by designating one unit for very low-income households.
Each unit will be about 1,670 square feet with two or three bedrooms, roof decks, and attached garages equipped with vehicle lifts. A new internal roadway between units will provide access to the garages.
Due to concessions allowed under the state’s density bonus law, the developer must only replace water main sections where new connections are made — in this case, three seven-foot segments — rather than the full 100-foot frontage along the property.
Jonathan Frankel of Rincon Homes, based in Carlsbad, said the company’s fees will help fund the city’s broader pipe replacement effort.
“We are responsible for paying our fair share of this greater replacement project,” Frankel said.
The commission approved the project in a 6-1 vote. Commissioner Alicia Lafferty cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the developer should replace the entire frontage.
Lafferty said neighbors would not get a “continuous benefit” when components are replaced piecemeal and “don’t complete the whole process.” She added that taxpayers will ultimately cover the cost if Rincon does not.
Some residents voiced other concerns about the project. Carlsbad resident Tai Huoh, who lives on Jefferson Street near the project, criticized the project’s parking plan, saying it would worsen congestion along the corridor.
“All of these recently proposed condominium projects on Jefferson Street don’t provide enough on-site parking spaces,” Huoh wrote the council. “Each unit with only one parking space is unrealistic. The condominium residents will end up parking their second cars on the already parking-crowded Jefferson Street and side streets. We need street parking spaces for our guests, gardeners, and repairmen, not for the future condominium residents.”
Longtime Carlsbad Village resident Brad Ingino urged the commission to reject the project, saying new high-rise development is eroding the community’s small-town character.
“I have lived and rented in Carlsbad Village for 15-18 years now,” Ingino wrote. “The influx of four- and five-story buildings has destroyed our skyline and threatens the very ‘village’ aspect that makes this area so unique and special — and worth preserving. Please, please, please, for the love of God and our lovely Hamburg, deny this proposal and limit future ones. Garfield Street already looks like little Newport Beach. You can always build more, but you can never go back. If you lived here, you would understand.”
Commissioner Nicholas Foster noted the City Attorney’s Office has cautioned commissioners that denying a project requires “very strong, concrete, adverse findings against public health and safety.”
“This comes down to three words: density bonus law,” Foster said. “As much as people like it or hate it, it’s a pretty strong law.”
Commissioner Roy Meenes said he considered it an “excellent project” that meets state and local housing goals.
